


Under the Full Moon on Samhain Night

by SgtLeppard



Category: Def Leppard
Genre: Gen, Halloween, Samhain, Witchcraft, there isn't really much i can tag this as without getting repetitive as hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SgtLeppard/pseuds/SgtLeppard
Summary: "What if I told you I can do magic?""I'll probably say you've been watching too many movies."
Relationships: Steve Clark & Rick Savage
Kudos: 7





	Under the Full Moon on Samhain Night

**Author's Note:**

> A completely on the fly thing for Rockfic's Halloween 2020 challenge. Mistakes will be corrected later

Sav hadn't been sure what to think when Steve had offered to show him something in lieu of going to the Halloween party at Rick's parent's place. True, Steve didn't really handle crowds well when off the stage, but this seemed odd even by Steve's standards. What the hell could be so interesting out in the middle of some bloke's fields that Sav just had to ditch the party for? Fuck sake, they were trespassing!

As the pair walked to a destination that only Steve knew, Sav pulled his coat tighter around him and thought back on the conversation that got him way out here in the first place.

They had been at the spoon factory, packing up after rehearsals when Steve had tapped Sav on the shoulder. "Hey Sav?"

Sav turned to look at his bandmate. "Yeah, mate?"

"Do you think we could do something else instead of going to the party?"

"Like what?"

Steve shifted in place, clearly nervous about the topic he was about to broach. "It's something... interesting," he said evasively. "I think it'll be worth your while."

Oh no, Sav was not about to deal with vague bullshit. "What is it? Spit it out."

Steve glanced around, checking to make sure they were alone in the room. He lowered his voice, saying, "What if I told you I can do magic?"

Sav scoffed, "I'll probably say you've been watching too many movies."

"I can prove it," Steve said defensively.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! Come with me tonight, I'll show you."

Sav cocked his head to the side a bit. "Why not show Phil? Why me?"

Steve rubbed the back of his neck. "He- kind of- already believes me without proof. He just- took it at face value. I get the feeling he doesn't actually want to see."

"And you think I will," Sav surmised.

"You're the only one who'd actually make sure a person backs up their claims." Well, he did have a point. "So... will you?"

It obviously took some courage for Steve to approach him about the subject, and Sav didn't want to seem like an ass for turning him down. Sighing, he answered, "Alright, fine. I will. But what do I tell the others? Rick's not gonna be happy about this, y'know."

Steve picked up his guitar case and made his way to the door. "You lot know my family situation. Make something up."

Fast forward to now, and Sav was starting to have doubts. "'It's something interesting,' you said. 'I think it'll be worth your while,' you said."

"And I meant it," Steve said over his shoulder, continuing to lead Sav to wherever the hell he was going. "Just a bit further."

"And you really couldn't just show me this back at the spoon factory? Or- anywhere else for that matter?"

"It's more private out here," Steve replied. "The owner won't even know we were here."

"You sound so sure of that."

"I've been out here several times. I know."

Sav said nothing further as Steve continued leading him through the field. As they walked, he eyed the bag that Steve brought. "Supplies," he had said. He'd really made it seem like they'd be camping out on private property, despite the bag's relatively small size. Sav drew his attention elsewhere. The field went on seemingly forever, illuminated by the full moon in the sky. The ground softly crunched beneath their feet as they walked, the only sound that could be heard when the bassist wasn't complaining.

It was really late -- past midnight if he had to make a guess. Most of the night had been spent with Steve info dumping about magic and witchcraft. Sav had tried to pay attention for Steve's sake, then argued that they could still go to the party and just do the whole magic thing later. Steve had shot that idea down, saying they'd both be wiped out if so. Now that Sav thought about it, that was probably a smart decision, but he was still miffed about not getting to go to the party. This had really better be worth it.

After what seemed like an eternity, they came up to a small grouping of trees. There were only five of them, and it was clear they had been planted in such a pattern that they formed a circle roughly six meters in diameter. The clearing in the middle showed signs of prior use. Steve didn't even need to say anything. Sav knew this was it. The vibes he got from the area made it obvious.

"So," he said as they entered the small clearing, "this place."

"Yep." Steve sat down and waved Sav over to join in him in the middle, then began to rummage through his supply bag. "Local stories claim that witches used this very spot to perform rituals some hundreds of years ago, and only those of their bloodline who were worthy could set foot here."

Plopping down, Sav groaned, "Already sounds bogus." When Steve gave him a look, Sav quickly added, "I mean, we're here."

Steve's eyebrow raised. "That's not an accident. Some of the previous landowners here used to steer clear. Most everyone chalked it up to superstition, but over time it's pretty much tried and true. Only the witches' descendants can be here."

"You're telling me," Sav said as he laid back in the grass, staring up at the sky, "that you're descended from one of those 'witches'."

"Have to be," Steve replied. "This place..." He stopped rummaging for a moment. "It called to me."

Sav sat up a little. "Called to you?"

Steve hummed in affirmation, then cocked his head, pensive. "You might be too. I mean, you're here."

Rolling his eyes, Sav flopped back down in the grass. "You really have been watching too many movies." What a bullshit claim. Him, having witches for ancestors? Certainly not. Besides, if he really could do magic, he would've known by now. It wasn't like he could actually touch the moon, though it seemed as if he could if only he were to reach out. It wasn't like he could make objects appear out of thin air, though there were times when he was missing something -- a pick, his shampoo, a school book he had forgotten to grab -- and he would turn around and there the object would be, as if it had been there the entire time. It wasn't like he could move things with only his mind, even though there had been moments where things were closer to him than he had initially noticed. It wasn't like he could will the wind to blow, despite the fact that it always did when he thought about it.

Nah. He was overthinking it. Just a stupid local myth. Sav quickly sat back up, not wanting to continue the invasive train of thought. Instead, he asked, "Why tonight? Something special?"

Steve's face was unreadable. "It's the night of Samhain, and with a full moon, magic is said to be at its peak. Granted, we could do this any other day, but... can't really pass up a Samhain full moon. There's also this... feeling... I'm not sure how to describe it. It's like... we're about to make a huge discovery. Something new, big... Exciting..."

At this point, Sav wasn't sure he wanted to know why Steve was being cryptic, so he turned his attention to the items Steve had brought. "Do we really need all of that?"

Steve's face turned sheepish. "Eh, more of a just-in-case kind of thing. We probably won't be using much. This, we will though," he added as he pulled out a dried bundle of what looked like thin sticks to Sav.

"What the hell is that?"

"Weren't you paying attention?" He tried. He really did. "It's a sage bundle," Steve said, a little upset that Sav hadn't listened.

"And you're gonna burn it to... purify the place," Sav responded, unsure where that came from, but given how Steve was eyeing him, he felt compelled to add, "See? I did pay attention."

"Just not the entire time."

Sav sighed. "Cut me some slack, alright? It was a lot of information. You really expect me to retain all of that in a short span of time?"

Steve didn't answer, but it seemed like he wasn't upset anymore. Looks can be deceiving, however. _Maybe I should listen more._ Instead, he lit the bundle, letting it burn briefly before blowing the flames out, leaving only the smoking ends. Once he was satisfied, he began to waft the smoke around, starting with his bandmate.

Coughing a little, Sav muttered, "Smells like off pot."

Steve shrugged dismissively, "You'll get used to it."

True, the more Sav inhaled the smoke, the more he got used to it, but it also seemed to be messing with his head a bit. The air also seemed to warm up. Maybe it was the sage embers. He tried to ignore it while Steve worked, and checked his watch. 3 AM. The proverbial witching hour. Curious, he asked, "What exactly are we doing? Like, a- spell or- something?"

Shrugging, Steve set the bundle down after putting the embers out. "Nothing in particular. Mainly just- demonstration. We'll start simple, though."

He pulled out a container -- salt, Sav read on the label -- and began to pour some around the both of them. Sav tried to think about what on earth the guitarist said the salt was for. "Uh... that- repels bad shit, right?"

Steve hummed a bit. "I guess you were listening." Score one for Sav. "Sage and salt together probably seems like overkill, but- can't be too careful." Once he was done, he sat back down. "Alright, what do you want to do?"

Sav gave him a look. "This is _your_ demonstration, shouldn't you pick what to do?"

"W-well, yeah," Steve stammered, "but you're the guest. What would you want to see? Or do? Or-- fuck words, you know what I mean."

Sav wracked his brain for anything considerably "witchy" that Steve could possibly do. He just went with the first thing that came to mind. "I dunno, levitate?"

Steve thought for a moment before agreeing. "Yeah, we can do that. Takes concentration though, gimme your hands." Sav could feel the callouses on Steve's fingers as they clasped their hands together. "Just- close your eyes and- think of floating."

"Floating, right," Sav mumbled, but did what he was told. How hard could it be? He'd had dreams of flying before. Sometimes during those dreams, he'd fly over to his bandmates' houses. There was one time, however, when after one such dream, Joe made an offhand comment about seeing Sav fly by his window. It was weird, but Sav hadn't thought much of it, but now... No. Coincidence. "Is this working? I don't feel any lighter."

"Focus," he could hear the guitarist lightly chastise.

Whatever. He went back to his dreams, thinking of how it felt to fly. Like he was weightless. If he thought about it hard enough, he could just barely imagine himself lifting off of the ground. It was a slow lift, he could tell. Not quite like his dreams, where he just leapt right out of bed and into the air. Sometimes he would look down and see himself asleep in his bed. It was jarring at first, but nowadays he just chalked it up to dream bullshittery. Dreams were weird, after all.

Giving up, Sav opened his eyes. "It's not wor--" He stopped. He hadn't just imagined he was above the ground. He actually _was_ above the ground. A good foot above the ground. "Holy shit." He looked up at Steve, wearing an I-told-you-so look. "We're actually-- oh my God, we're--"

"Shut up or we'll fall," Steve interrupted.

This was unbelievable. Sav was literally fucking levitating. So was Steve, for that matter, but that was obvious. He felt his hands being gently squeezed, and while his ears didn't quite register what Steve said, he knew he was telling him to breathe and focus. Taking a few deep breaths, Sav was able to calm down enough to regain his focus, deciding to look at the ground. A slight shift in imagination -- the ground shrinking beneath him -- was all that was needed to bring the pair even higher into the air, stopping around four feet.

"Fun view, eh?" Steve joked.

Sav looked back up at Steve. "H-how?"

Steve smirked as the pair slowly sank back down to earth, Sav feeling a slight jolt as he reconnected with the ground. "Magic."

Maybe it was adrenaline. Maybe it was the air around them, seemingly electrified. Maybe it was curiosity. All Sav knew was he wanted to see more. "What else...?"

The smirk on Steve's face widened into a grin. "I'll show you."

\-----

Sav awoke late in the morning, feeling cold and exhausted. What the hell happened last night? That was a weird dream though. He dreamed that Steve could do magic, that they had levitated several feet off the ground. He dreamed that Steve used magic to change his hair colour temporarily, going from blonde to ginger. He dreamed that Steve had said some sort of poem -- incantation? Spell? -- and that he joined in, not really knowing the words, and yet saying them anyway. He dreamed that Steve had claimed he was descended from ancient witches who used to use that particular part of the land as a ritual space, that the land called to him. He dreamed that Steve said it was possible that Sav was also descended from those same ancient witches, possibly covenmates of his own ancestors.

Alcohol. Drugs. There was no other explanation for such a batshit insane dream.

What a realistic dream, though. He could still feel the cold air and the grass beneath him, even though he was at home in his bed. He yawned and stretched, feeling his back pop in several places.

"Richard!" he could hear his mother calling from downstairs. "Your friend Steve is on the phone!"

"Alright!" he called back, then groaned as he got out of bed. Whatever the hell he took last night, he was not taking it again. Grabbing the receiver, he mumbled tiredly, "Hullo?"

_"Did I wake you up?"_

"Kinda. Maybe. I dunno, I just woke up."

Steve chuckled at the other end. _"Just wanted to check to make sure we're still on for tonight."_

On for what? Oh well, he was tired, he'll remember eventually. Best to double check. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. Um, remind me what we're doing again."

_"You know,"_ was Steve's knowing, cryptic answer. _"I'll see you tonight,"_ he said, hanging up before Sav could say anything else.

Sav looked at the receiver. "Tonight then," he said to himself, placing the receiver back on the base. "'You know', the fuck kind of answer..." He continued grumbling as he went through his morning routine. As he got dressed, the events of his dream replayed in his mind. He caught sight of the bottle of cologne on his dresser. It had been a gift from Steve last year for Christmas. How he knew this was the bassist's favourite cologne was a mystery, but as he thought about it and the dream, the more things strangely began to add up.

"There's no way..." It was only a dream, right? That didn't actually happen. He didn't actually skip the Allen family Halloween party for a night of witchcraft... Did he? He continued to gaze at the bottle, bringing his focus to it, imagining it moving from its current spot. He imagined it over and over again, the imagination seeming to play transparently over reality. He could hear Steve's voice in his head. _Focus. Bend it to your will. Move it. Use your mind. Move._

"Move," he said aloud, gaze still intently focused on the bottle.

The bottle moved.


End file.
